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Do not take insurance, even if you have a blackjack. Card counters can get away with making smart insurance bets when the deck is rich in tens but the non-counting player should always decline it.The following table shows the house edge on the insurance bet depending on the number of decks used.

House Edge on Insurance

Number
of Decks

House
Edge

1

5.882%

2

6.796%

4

7.246%

6

7.395%

8

7.470%

Surrender

Sometimes in a 6 or 8 deck game the player has the option to surrender.To be specific the player may forfeit half their bet to be excused from playing out their hand. Obviously this option should only be taken in the worst hands when the net return is less than 50%. In late surrender (the only kind I have ever seen) the player may only opt to surrender after the dealer checks for a blackjack. The following table

is a basic guide for when to surrender (Y=yes, N=no).

Basic Surrender Strategy

Player’s
Hand

Dealer’s Card

9

10

A

15

N

Y

N

16

Y

Y

Y

Rule Variations

Rule variations will have an effect on the player’s expected return. The numbers below show the effect on the player’s return under various rules and after taking into consideration proper basic strategy adjustments. These changes are relative to the following Atlantic City rules: 8 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, player may double on any first two cards, player can double after splitting, player may resplit to 4 hands.

Rule Variations

Rule

Effect

Five card Charlie

+1.49%

Early surrender against ace

+.39%

Early surrender against ten

+.24%

Player may draw to split aces

+.19%

Six card Charlie

+.15%

Player may resplit aces

+.08%

Late surrender against ten

+.07%

Seven card Charlie

+.01%

Late surrender against ace

+.00%

Resplit to only 2 hands

-.01%

No-peek: ace showing

-.01%

Player may double on 9-11 only

-.09%

No-peek: ten showing

-.10%

Player may not resplit

-.10%

Player may not double after splitting

-.14%

Player may double on 10,11 only

-.18%

Dealer hits on soft 17

-.22%

Player loses 17 ties

-1.87%

Player loses 17,18 ties

-3.58%

Player loses 17-19 ties

-5.30%

Player loses 17-20 ties

-8.38%

Player loses 17-21 ties

-8.86%

A “five card Charlie” is an automatic winner on any five card hand that has not busted. This rule does not apply after splitting or if the dealer has a blackjack. A few days in 1999 Binion’s Horseshoe offered this generous rule.

In European blackjack and in many online casinos the dealer does not check for a blackjack after dealing the cards. This is referred to as the “no-peek” rule, because the dealer doesn’t peek to see if he has a blackjack. In this case, after the players have played their hands, if the dealer does have a blackjack, then the player loses the full amount bet, including the additional bet if the player doubled or split.